Lot 47
Cilicia. Tarsos. Mazaios, as Satrap, 361-334 BC. AR Stater (10.83 g). Baal of Tarsos seated left, head facing, holding grapes, wheat ear, and eagle in right hand, scepter in left hand; Aramaic legend at right and below. Reverse: Attacking lion bringing bull to knees, left; Mazaios in Aramaic above; monogram below. SNG Levante 106; SNG France 335 var. Perfectly centered on full flan. Full, even strike, with all details complete. Toned and lustrous. NGC graded Choice Uncirculated.
Tarsos, the chief city of Cilicia, is situated on the east side of, and near the opening called the "Cilician Gates," a narrow gorge leading onto the Cilician plain. The plain was rather like the nexus point for trade routes across southern Anatolia (Turkey). Movement on the small plain was severely channeled by the impediments of the surrounding terrain. Thus, control of this area meant having control of all the trade going south from Europe -- to the Levant, and Egypt.
The origins of the area are rather obscure, but the region was part of the "cradle of civilization," with human settlement there dating back thousands of years. Because of its location the inhabitants were a polyglot mixture of locals, Greek and Phoenician settlers, plus the residue of assorted invading or migrating groups. Cilicia never survived for any length of time as a kingdom of its own. It was too much of a buffer state, too often the prey of, or suffering on the sidelines of, the power struggles of larger kingdoms or empires. Still, the area continued to remain fairly prosperous -- more so during the Persian Period, and continuing under Alexander the Great.
With the Seleucid Kings of Syria, Tarsos lost out to Antioch as the capital of the Seleucid Kingdom. This relegated Tarsos to the status, more or less, of a "frontier town." This did not mean it was a poor town by any means. Under the Romans, when Tarsos was made capital of the province of Cilicia, the city finally reached the pinnacle of its wealth and influence. Prosperous, cultured, and proud of its 'Greekness,' its most famous citizen (to the modern world), St. Paul, described himself with pride as "a citizen of no mean city."
Estimated Value $600 - 700.
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| Realized $2,070 |
